Stacker-tooth.



J. DAIN.

STAGKBR TOOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, 1906.

Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

. hay, it will drag a portion of the hay with it.

y cleanly taken u JOSEPH DAIN, or o'rTuMWA, IOWA.

STACKER-TOTH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Application led July 9, 1906. Serial No. 825,410.

To alta/hom it ml/y concern:

Be 1t known that l, JOSEPH DAIN, a citizen of the United States,residingat Ottumwa,in

the county of Wapello and State of Iowa, have invented certain new anduseful irn-I rovements in Stacker-Teeth, of which the ollowin is aspecification, reference being had to t e accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to -teeth for the heads of hay-stackers.

As is Well known hay-stackers are in use in which the hay is raked Jfromthe field upon a head or fork which consists of a number of teeth withsuitable cross-bars and supports, and which when the hay is being rakedupon it lies close to the ground. When a sufficient amount of hay israked upon the stacker-head the stacker is set in operation and the headwith its loadof hay is lifted and the hay thrown upon the stack.Heretofore certain difficulties have occurred in its operation arisingfrom the fact that when the rake, which has been driven u upon thestacker-head with its hay, is bac ed away to free it from thestacker-head and from the oli-from the stacker-head and causel ascattering of the hay and prevent its being and deposited upon thestack. Several r. evices have been made for the pur ose of doing awaywith'these dilllculties, ut so far as rI ani aware all of them haveobjections. `For instance, a device has been.. used consisting of a longbar and a number of spring teeth coiled around a pipe on one side of thebar. This barhas been staked `to the ground just in iront of thepointsof the teeth of the stacker-head, so that when the rake is drivenup with its load of hay and deposited upon the stacker rt would passkover these teeth bending them downward as l the rake passed over themand allowing them to spring up again into vertical position as the rakepassed them. lhile such devices would prevent the hay i'rom being pulledback oll' the stacker-head by the rake, there were several objections tothem. The teeth would tend to erystalliz/.e and break by being bentlaterally 5 the .device was separate from and not a part ot thestacker-head, and as it remained lixed in its position, when thestacker-headrose, there was nothing to revent the hay lroni falling oil'the stae {erhead in the early part oi its upward movei ment.

Other devices have been used, but all subject to one objection oranother.

It is the object of my invention to provide a new and improved tooth forstacker-heads which will overcome these difliculties which will readilyyield in any direction when the rake moves over the stacker-head todeposit the hay thereon; which will not orystallize and break underrepeated strains in any direction; which will yield forward, backwardand laterally, so that no matter at what angle the rake happens to bedriven over the stacker-head the teeth will readily yield to permit thepassage of the rake-bar over them, and which, being attached to thestackerhead and resuming their position as soon as free from therake-bar, willl rise with the stacker-head and prevent the spilling ofhayv during the rising. I attain these objects as illustrated in thedrawings and hereinafter described.

That which l regard as new will be set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings-liigure l is a longitudinal section throughthe free end of a stacker tooth; Fig. 2 is a plan. view of the bottom ofthe end of the stacker tooth with the retaining bar broken away; F ig. 3is a bottom plan view of the cap placed upon the end of the stackertooth with the spring removed; Fig'. 4 is a section on line 4 4 ol F ig.l, with the spring and retaining barremoved; and Fig. 5 is a diagram,showing one ol the stacker teeth and one oi the teeth of the hay-rake indotted lines to show its operation.

Referring to the drawings,-5 indicates one ot' the teeth of thestacker-head.

6 indicates a tooth-point, of iron, steel or any other metal, which. isprovided with a recess 7 (see Fig. 3) open at the bottom into which theend oi the stacker tooth 5 is inserted abutting against the vbottom ollthe recess, as best shown in Figs. l and 2. 'lho other end of the point(i is beveled away' upon 'the sides and top to forni a rounded point S.

oft

^ stacker tooth 5, where it is secured by a bolt into the recess, as isbest shown in Fig. 3, l by reason of its being of 'a spiralshape and forthe purpose hereinafter described.

12 indicates a coiled or helical spring, the lowest coil of which 12alies in the spiral groove 11 when the spring is in position in theopening 9, asis best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. rlhe coils 'of the helicalspring 12 gradually decrease-in size toward the top so as to conformroughly to the shape of the opening 9, and the spring terminates in `astraight portion 13 which rises through the opening 10 and projectsupward a suitable distance at substantially right angles with thestacker tooth.

14 indicates a slot cut in the under side of Athe lpeint 6 in advance ofthe forward portion egroove 11. A

15 indicates a bar, preferably of spring material, one end oflwhich,.when the spring is placed in position, is inserted into the slot14 and the other end is brought up against the 16 passing through therear end of the toothpoint 6, through the tooth, and through the rearpart of the bar 15. The groove 1 1 is not quiteas .deep as the thicknessof the wire of spring and hence it will be readily seen that, as is bestshown in Fig. 1, the lower coil of the spring by means of the bar 15 istightly locked in the groove 11.

The operation of this device will be readily understood. When the rakewith its load of hay is driven up over the stacker-head, the stackerteeth and the rake teeth will come into su bstantially the positionshown in Fig. 5, in which is shown one of the stacker teeth and one ofthe rake teeth, the latter being shown indotted lines with the crossbarin con-tact with the-upright portion 13 of the spring. As the rake isdrivcirfurther forward the upright portion 13A will yield, and theyielding wl'll be brought `about, not by a bending of the uprightportion 13, but by a rocking of the coils ol vthe spring upon oneanother, and the teeth will thus yield sui'iiciently to permit thc rakebar to pass by them, when they will at once spring into verticalposition. lll'hen the rake is backed away or drawn away it will readilybe seen that these upright portions' of the spring lf3, which may becalled spring teeth for ii'lentilication, will prevent the hay which hasbeen deposited on the stacker-head by the rake from being drawn ol? bythe backward movement of the rake. f lhe spring teeth will yield withthe rocking action ol the spring as the rake is backed, and springingagain into vertical position will, ofcourse, risel with the stackerteethand prevent the hay from being ,j

spilled out backwards during the early por-k tion ot the Upwardmov'enient. lt will also be clear that no matter at what angle thetooth-pointv substantially the shape ,of the rake bar happens to strikethe spring teeth 13 they wil yicld 'without strain, as ther spring can,of course, rock equally well in any direction to permit suchyielding ofthateeth.

The stacker-head, ofcourse, may be ,iff any approved form andconstruction. I. 1 0

' have illustrated only one tooth of the stacker` head, as my inventionis clearly shown thereby, and does not pertain to any other portions ofthe stacker.

It will be understood, of course, that in practice my device may .be aplied to each j tooth ofthe stacker-head, or on y telas many as may befound necessary for a proper and effectual operation.

It will be noted, also, that in my improved stacker-tooth, as shown anddescribed,` the bottom of the opening 9, in which the coiled portion ofthe .s ring lies, is open except for the comparative y narrow plate 15,thus reventing any accumulation of dirt and c ali" or seed and smallpieces of hay in the opening which would, otherwise, be apt toaccumulate until the accumulation wouldin` terfere with theproperworking ofthe spring.

That which I claim as my invention .and desireto secure by LettersPatent isf.-

1. `In a stacker-tooth, the combination with the tooth, of a coiledspring mounted near the end of said tooth and having a straightupwardly-projecting portion, and means forsecuring the lower coil ofsaid spring rigidly to said tooth, substantially as described.

2. In a stacker-tooth, the combination with the tooth and a chamber nearthe end of said tooth, of a coiled spring mounted in said chamber andhaving a projecting portion extending from said chamber above saidtooth, and means for locking the lowest coil ot s aid spring againstsaid tooth, substantially as described. 1

3. In a stacker-tooth, the combination with the tooth, a tooth-pointsecured to the end of said tooth, and achamber in said frustum of acone,of a helical spring mounted in said chamber and having an extensionprojecting upwardly above said tooth, and means for locking the lowestcoil of'said lhelical spring against the under side of said toothpoint,substantially'as described. j

4. ln' a stacker-tooth, the combination with the tooth, a tooth-pointsecured to theend of said tooth, and a chamber in said tooth-pointsubstantiallV the shape of the frustum of a cone, ofa he ical springmounted in said chamber and having an extension projecting upwardlyabove said tooth, a spiral groove on the under side of said toothpeintadapted to'receive the lowcstcoilof sli'd helical spring, and means forlocking the lowest coil of said spring lirmly in said groove,substantially as described.

5. In a stacker-tooth, the combination with the tooth, a tooth-pointsecured to the 13.0,.

tion to loci the lowest coil of said helical springin said spiral groove6. A' hay-retaining device for stackers, consisting of a holderdctacliably applied to a stacker tootli and a finger movably mounted onthe holder and normally held in the upright position.

'7. The combination with a stacker head, of a series of yieldinglyretained `lingers mounted upon the teeth ot' the stackerhead near theirforward extrer'nities7 said fingers 'being adapted to yield readil "inresponse to pressure toward the rear and iave a tendency to resume theirnormal or upright position as the said rearwardly directed force ceasesto act.

8. A hay retaining device for stackcrs consisting of a fin er and aholder therefor, said linger being a apted to oscillate or swing in anydirection.l y

9. The combination with a tooth of a stacker; of a hollow vmembercarried by. the tooth; and-a finger mounted at its inner v,end withinthe hollow member and projecting through the latter.-

. 10. The combination with. the carrier teeth' of a stacker, oftension-controlled hayretaining fingers carried at the forward end ofsaid teeth.

11. The combination with a stacker, of hay-retaining fingers mounted toswing at the forward end of the stacker; and means for vplacing thefingers under tension.

12. The combination with the teeth of a stacker; of tension-coi'itrolledmeans carried at the forward end oi' the teeth to retain 'the materialupon thev teeth.

13. The combination with' the carrier teeth of a stacker; of a-hollowmember carried by each tooth; and a hay-retaining finger niovablycarried. by each 'hollow member.

1 4. The combination with the carrier teeth of a stacker g of a hollowmember carried by each tooth; and a tension controlled hayretainingfinger carried by each hollow mein-- ber.

1.5.` A device of the character described comprising a hollow member,and a finger mounted in said member and projecting therethrough. 16. Adevice of the character described comprising a hollowmember, and a hayrctaining finger projecting through said hollow.

member.

17. A device of the character described comprising a hollow member, anda tension controlled finger mounted iiil the member.

18. The combination with the carrier teeth ol a stacker, of a hollowmember carried by cach tooth, a hay retaining finger carried by cachhollow member, and tension controlling means arranged for cooperationwith the finger.

19. The combination with the carrier teeth of a stacker, of anindependent-tension controlled hay retaining linger carried by eachtooth.

20. The combination with the teeth of a stacker; of a hollow membersecured to each tooth and provided with a slot; a swinging hay-retaininfinger mounted at its inner endl within said iollow member andprojecting through said slot; and means confined withinthe hollow memberto control' said finger.

.21. rl`lie combination with a carri-er tooth of a stacker, of anindependent tension-controlled hay-retaining finger carried thereby.

22. A device of the character described comprising a hollow casting; ahay-retaining finger carried by the casting; and a spring confinedwithin the casting for cooperation with said linger.

23.A A device of the character described comprising a hollowv member, afinger mounted in said member and having movement inde endently thereof.y

24. A evice of the character described comprising a hollow member, afinger mounted in said member and having movement independently thereof,and a spring.

arranged for engagement with the finger.

25. A device of the character described comprising a hollow member, afinger yieldingly mounted in the member and projecting therethrough, andmeans wit iin. the member to control the linger.

A dcvicc'oi the character described r oiii prising a h oilow member, a.finger ni ounted in said member and having movement iiidependentlythereof, and a tensioning means in. said member to control the linger.

27. A device of the class described, coinprising a' hollow member, alinger mounted in the member' and having movement iii-- dependcntlythereof, and a spring .confined within the member to control theiiiiger.

28. A. device of the class described coniprising a' hollow member', a.linger mounted in the member for movement'independently thereof, and aspring arranged to con trolthc l'mcei'.

C 29. device of the character described comprising a hollow member, amovable ico hay retaining iinger, said hollow member \the steckeriandarranged for movement inhaving oppositeiy disposed stops to hmit thedependently of the teeth, and independent movement of the finger, andmeans arranged tension controlling means for each finger. l0 to controlthe finger JOSEPH DAIN.

e `31. The combination with the carrier' Witnesses:

C. A LAssER,

teeth of a. stri-elim, of :i hay retaining finger W. G. DUFFIELD.

varried :tt the forward end of @eeh tooth of

